Monthly Archives: November 2017

Another Wednesday… well, Thursday, but you know what I mean, hopefully. I did plan out this post Tuesday, and if I’d been on the ball a bit more, it would have gone out yesterday the way I’d intended.

Oh, well… at least it’s being posted now. Still in time to get in a ROW80 check-in and post this to the WIPpet linky….

It’s also the last day of November, which means the last day of NaNoWriMo 2017. I didn’t win, and that’s OK. I didn’t go into this year’s challenge with a goal of 50K words for a new story. My goal at the moment is to finish a 20K proposal for the Golden Heart Awards by Dec 9th. I’m not really on track for that either, though… and I’m not as okay with that.

Fortunately, I can submit a rough draft into the contest, because a lot can happen in a month, and I’m not that far behind with that goal. I’m not even that far behind in most of my goals. The ROW80 website probably could use a bit more love than I’ve bee giving it, but… except for a sponsor-post image courtesy of Shan Jeniah, and some more help with sponsor visits (Thanks, Beth, Kim, Alberta, Mike… and everyone), I’ve not had the backup with keeping things growing the way I’d hoped. We’re a great group, but… well, I knew things would be rocky this Round, and guess what? They were.

This isn’t to say I’m upset. Things were rocky, but not insurmountable. The unsteady progress of this Round of Words highlighted one of the great things about our group. Life happens, and we all know it and deal as best we can. We don’t point fingers, we just move forward. Because things may not have moved forward the way I’d hoped, but they did move forward.

So, for this upcoming week, my goal is my RWA entry and the maintenance on the ROW80 blog but little else. I can do that. 🙂

And now…
Today’s WIPpet maths are on the weird side, mostly because I really wanted an excuse to post these six small paragraphs. 😉 So here we go… This post was planned and set up on the 28th, was supposed to be posted on the 29th, was tweaked and posted on the 30th: three days with two involving actual work… 2 x 3 =6

This excerpt comes out of my fanfiction, the Odds. (Yep, I really rock these filenames, don’t I?) In trying to capture some of Alanii and Atyr’s less romantic playful sides, I’ve put them together after a long estrangement into a sandbox with a “BBB” (Big Bad Boss) and another BBB (Big Bad Bureaucracy). Somehow romance still seems to follow them though…. jut not in this snippet.

More sterile surroundings. Alanii considered the office, his brow rising uncomfortably. The room was teeming, and not all of the wilderness was paperwork.

He nearly sat on a small, brown house mouse that was munching away at the cushion of the chair Atyriia had directed him toward, a solid straw pad once in a long distant past.

“I see you don’t get much work done here, my lady.”

She was nonplussed by his dry tone. “Most of this concerns matters I’ve already dealt with. These are simply records. Paperwork and filing.”

“Ah.” He scanned the room again. “You need a computer in here then.” At her cocked brow, he hastened to explain. “To store these on.”

“So it will be neat and more organized?” She smiled. “Why would I ever want to do that?”

Enjoyed that? Then why not head over to the WIPpet linky and visit some our other awesome members. A huge thank you to Emily, our gracious host. 😀

It seems like ages since I dusted off this blog and posted. Not sure why… as far as a blogging world goes, this place has always been pretty close to ideal. Still, I haven’t been here. Mostly I thought I should use my name blog instead of this nice (somewhat anonymous) internet hideaway.

I don’t anymore. I know more of what I want in my writing and online lives, and here, where it all started, is where I want to build the next step from. I’ll be honest, I don’t have everything planned out. I know more, but each bit comes to me the way a winding country road reveals itself. I turn a corner and the terrain can change so suddenly.

But my “car” is the ROW80, and my local RWA chapter (and fellow ROWers) are awesome co-pilots, so I don’t doubt I’ll get there. I’ve been writing, typing, organizing… Life hasn’t been particularly bad of late, for me personally.

The Eye of the Storm…

My new “add-on” goal for this Round of Words is to be an island of calm those friends and family… members of my online and offline communities as well. This may be the hardest goal I’ve ever attempted. Anyone who knows me can probably vouch for my tendency to “react” as opposed to act But, hey… what is life with out a challenge? Or a challenge that knows you have a life without making it a real challenge?

Yeah… I’m also jumping right in with a WIPpet. I really miss the WIPpeteers (though given the huge stack of books I have to finish, I confess, I’m a bit uncertain whether I should look too close at Emily Susan’s blog… she always posts so many great reads to pursue). If you’re interested in joining this neat little blog hop, check out the info below.

As part of my present RWA and ROW80 goal for this period, I’m reworking the opening of Courting the Swan Song to show more of the romance element that I’d thought came through in the last version. I mean, Alanii’s actions and feelings toward Visselii pretty much drive the story from start to finish. I know this. However, it was clear I wasn’t showing this.

So here are three paragraphs (November=11, 16… take the 1s, add them then subtract from 6 for 3), where we get to spend some time with Visse and her least favorite person…

“I was just thinking about the prospective husband my father introduced me o this past holiday. I mean, I know he’s not the only man my parents are considering or that they’re even ready to offer a contract yet—Mother says she wants me to finish a second season of fostering at the very least before they accept any offers for my hand—but…” She looked up at the deep wooden beams above them and sighed. “I didn’t like him at all.”

“Didn’t like him? Kiriina laughed, a sound closer to a mule’s bray. “At least you can call him a man. The last potential husband Father considered for me was still in his swaddling clothes. Brat soiled himself when his mother was to set him in my arms!” If Visse had thought stuffing offal and grain meal into swine entrails had disgusted her companion, Kirina’s increased distaste made it all too apparent how that had offended her.

“So young?” Visse decided it was wiser to not remind the girl that babies did such things, and as a mother, she would be expected to deal with them on occasion—no matter how many housestaff Kiriina’s future husband might keep available for her.

Enjoyed that? Cool, then head on over to the WIPpet linky and visit some our other awesome members. A pile of giftcards for books and lattes to Emily for being our gracious host. 😀